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Ad campaigns are helping problem gamblers, say authorities

The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) in Singapore has seen an increase in the number of calls it gets today when it comes to gambling related inquiries. A spokesperson from NCPG said that this can be attributed to the number of targeted awareness and public education campaigns done by NPCG.

One of the key strategies for the organisation is to run campaigns during major festive season. The next campaign to launch will be during the European soccer season and throughout World Cup 2014.

Also, traditional ad mediums such as TVC, print and OOH are making the most impact for the campaign.

“A bulk of our core target group is much older aged between 35-70. As such, they are not as tech savvy. While we do run digital ads such as banners, at this point, we have found traditional and mostly targeted advertising though TV, OOH or print is more effective,” said a spokesperson.

Some of the examples of its targeted advertising can be seen around venues such as cruise centres and publications such as Horse Racing for maximum impact.

The NCPG also actively holds outreach programmes and events and road shows to target its core demographic.

UM and Goodfellas work on the NCPG’s media buying and advertising business respectively.

According to The Straits Times, counsellors say all these public education activities has led to the social stigma of gambling being much. The current helpline has had about 21,000 calls annually. This is an approximate four-fold increase since it first set up in 2009. Most of these calls are from Singaporeans seeking help or aiming to find out more about gambling addiction.